Adafruit's article ( https://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-led-strips/usage ) states that transistor IRLB8721 can be used with 3.3V or 5V gate voltage to drive LED strip. However, in IRLB8721 datasheet ( https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/datasheets/irlb8721pbf.pdf ) On-Resistance vs. Gate Voltage diagram shows no data for resistance for 3.3V (most likely resistance is to high to show it in used scale). So when driving the transistor with 3.3V voltage, wouldn't it heat too much? Is it a mistake in their article or maybe I'm missing something?
Electronic – Is Adafruit’s recommendation for led strip driver MOSFET incorrect
heatled stripled-drivermosfettransistors
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Best Answer
If you examine your picture it is for a drain current of 31 amps: -
And clearly, if you look at figure 1 in the DS you will never get gate-source voltages of 3 volts or 3.5 volts able to produce a drain current of 31 amps.
With a 3 volts gate source voltage and a more moderate drain current of (say) 1 amp the DS volt drop will be typically 0.1 volts and the power dissipated will be 0.3 watts. Use the 2nd picture for detailed analysis of power dissipation with different gate-source voltages.